Strategic Planning Kickoff
What does it feel like to begin something you have never done before?
As I write this post, we just dropped off one of our teenagers for a three-night backpacking trip in the Sierra mountains. At the same time, our older kid is getting their wisdom teeth pulled out.
There were butterflies in everyone’s stomachs today – including mine!
As I spoke to our kids, I shared, “It is normal to feel anxious about doing something new. But do not let that hold you back from having adventures or taking care of yourself.”
Hopefully, strategic planning is way less painful than getting one’s wisdom teeth pulled out! And it is more like climbing a beautiful mountain – challenging and rewarding.
The Kickoff of the strategic planning process – what we’re going to talk about in this article – sets you and your organization up for success.
That means planning for planning.
In the Kickoff stage, leaders work through these three questions:
Why are we doing strategic planning?
Who will be involved?
What is our timeline for this process?
Here is more detail about these questions:
Why strategic planning?
We have written before about the power of exploring one’s Why: Discussing the Why of strategic planning creates energy for the process. Talking about different people’s interest in strategic planning can also begin to surface different perspectives around planning and the organization’s work.
Who will be involved in strategic planning?
In the Kickoff stage, we form a Design Team who will weigh in on key decisions about strategic planning, such as meeting agendas. We also design the data collection process.
Data collection plan may include:
Interviews with organizational leaders, partners, and donors
Focus groups with members, volunteers, donors, partners, or individuals who might become future members
A survey of board, staff, or members
Data collection helps the organization to ensure that multiple perspectives are included in planning. It is an opportunity to hear new voices that are not consulted in the day-to-day work.
What is our timeline for the strategic planning process?
When are we meeting? How much time do board and staff members need to allocate for planning? A key part of Kickoff is creating a strategic planning calendar so that board and staff members can see the map of planning and understand when their time is needed.
To be honest, it does feel like a lot to do and figure out –even for consultants who have gone through the process many times! Those experiences over the years have served to create a process with a proven success rate. There are always new things to take into account, from which we continue to learn and apply.
Once you have set up your strategic planning process in the Kickoff stage, you can start to look around and enjoy the scenery.
And (as I have said before) it is normal to feel anxious about doing something new or going through this process with a new group! Do not let that anxiety prevent you from moving forward.
If you want to start a strategic planning process and are feeling concerned about starting, reach out! We would be happy to discuss serving as your guides for the process.
This is part 2 of a six-part series on the stages of nonprofit strategic planning:
Discovery - How looking at organizational secrets can be “almost fun”
Prioritization- How strategic planning helps answer the difficult questions
How planning gets everyone on the same page and builds commitment
Other resources to support strategic planning:
Purchase our strategic planning workbook
Join our upcoming Strategic Planning course, live online at Cal State East Bay